The levels of consumption consciousness: Level Three- assumptions-aware
We’ve seen some great companies gather their crowds on our Australian and NZ sites. We’ve seen that people are passionate about supporting brands that are sustainable and ethical.
We’ve also seen how crowdfunding has entered consumer culture. People have always voted with their dollars but with crowdfunding, that vote means a hell of a lot more.
From this vantage point, we feel like we’re uniquely placed to start a conversation about conscious consumption.
Many of us recycle, care about the environment, and think that orangutans shouldn’t be facing extinction. But what does it really mean to be a conscious consumer?
We’ve come up with an idea: the levels of consumption consciousness. If we care about this world, maybe we can be a bit more intentional with how we interact with it. We’re thinking of the levels of consumption consciousness as the different levels of awareness / perception around the purchase of goods and services.
In the past two weeks, we covered Level One, label-aware and Level Two, impact-aware. Check them out if you haven’t yet.
Level Three: Assumptions-aware
You just got home from a run. You don’t often go for runs but your mate roped you into park run. 5km seemed doable. You had said yes before you realised it was 7am on a Saturday morning. Regardless, you showed up and did your best as you watched children and people with prams overtake you.
Now you’re home. You finally get to peel off your clothes while you let the shower get hot. You get in and let the hot water run over you and you sigh. You reach for the shampoo and… you’re out. You had totally forgotten to stop at the shops on the way home. Devastated, you finish your shower and immediately head to the shops to get some shampoo.
Assumption #1: You need to buy it
Do you even need to buy it? As a consumable, shampoo probably is something you need to buy. But in the case of another t-shirt, a bottle of water, or a new desk, you can probably ask that question.
- Do you even need to buy it?
- What would happen if you didn’t?
- What would you do if you couldn’t?
- Could you deal with what you have?
- Could you go without and still have a good life?
- Could you borrow or barter or buy second hand?
The truth is that for most things, we’d probably be fine. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t buy things. It just means we don’t need to. It puts a whole different spin on it.
If I’m choosing to buy a t-shirt, I may as well buy a great t-shirt that doesn’t damage the earth or use exploitative labour.
If I’m choosing to buy a bottle of water, perhaps I should buy a reusable one instead of a single use plastic that will be here until the end of time.
If I’m choosing to buy a new desk, maybe I’ll see if the local op shop has one that will suit my needs.
At the end of the day we don’t need much. So let’s make good choices with what we want.
(Please continue to buy shampoo)
Assumption #2: You have to buy the same kind you always have
You enter the pharmacy and go to the shampoo aisle. Before you go to grab the same shampoo you always have, you take a second to look at the insane amount of choices available to you.
If you were buying shampoo for the first time ever, you might be overwhelmed by the different brands, types, and colour choices.
Why did you start buying “your” shampoo anyway? It was the ad when you were in your teens, right? Or the fact that all the others were using this one. Or maybe it was because someone complimented you on your scent the day you were trying it out for the first time.
Have you ever really questioned that choice? Most of us aren’t novelty-chasers, but you can take five to think about whether that reason is still in alignment with how you view the world.
Check out the problem that shampoo and conditioner bottles contribute to:
That problem might be more important to you than how good your hair smelt on that particular day in 2017.
Could another kind of shampoo be better for you?
What would happen if you asked these kinds of questions about other products you buy?
Assumption #3: We can’t do this better than we’re already doing it
In the case of shampoo, Brianne saw the issue and decided to do something about it.
Check out their solution:
(Note: the crowdfunding campaign mentioned in the video closed in 2017. )
There are great companies like this that have created better options for many products. Support a better option by buying from companies that have made those options (check out Ethique’s recent post about switching to plastic-free beauty) or investing in companies that are creating those options when they raise (check out who’s crowdfunding currently).
The other option: if a solution doesn’t exist, solve it yourself.
Let us know what you think. What assumptions have you questioned about how your purchases?
